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NASA Considers Abandoning ISS

Posted by michael on from the okay-who-took-my-parachute dept.

mbstone writes "MSNBC is reporting that NASA is threatening to mothball the International Space Station unless Russia coughs up its share of the money for maintenance and support missions. NASA is now making "contingency plans" to leave the station unoccupied for as long as a year. What I want to know is, why a contingency plan? Didn't NASA already have a plan in place? Are U.S. taxpayers going to pay millions extra to develop new mothballing equipment and procedures that could have been designed-in at far less cost?? Also, I would be glad to house-sit, I use very little oxygen."

3 of 512 comments (clear)

  1. Re:commercialism by vlag · · Score: 5, Funny

    You've got Microsoft on the brain. It's not the IIS, its the ISS. There is a huge difference. One crashes and is susceptible to worms. The other can't crash and the worms are experimental. Can't remember which is which.

    --
    Do you want to remove linux?
  2. Re:If NASA is serious by tomhudson · · Score: 5, Funny
    But really, how many fatal accidents has the Soyouz TM had? (0) how many the US shuttle? (1) </quote>

    They (russians) just lost a comm satellite yesterday, launched it into LEO (low earth orbit), insted of GSO (geo-stationary orbit).

    Mind you, when it comes flaming back into the atmosphere and kills some cow in Auckland, it'll be geo-stationary.

  3. Re:requires companies to think long term by constantnormal · · Score: 5, Funny

    long term... is that two quarters or three?